The Ohio Journal of - The Ohio Academy of Science

A-10 The Ohio Journal of Science
Vol. 112(1)
Despite ongoing efforts to reduce phosphorus loads in
Lake Erie since the 1970s, eutrophication continually
causes fish kills from anoxia, vascular plant and periphytic
phytoplankton losses, and potential health risks from
harmful algae blooms. While phosphorus (P) is typically
considered the dominant limiting nutrient to algal
growth in freshwater systems, prior evidence has shown
that this is not always the case in Lake Erie; the project
hypothesized that trends of increased soluble reactive P
loading will cause other factors besides P to be limiting.
Additionally, the project hypothesized that phosphorus
limitation should be more likely in offshore regions,
congruent to the nearshore phosphorus shunt hypothesis.
Water samples were taken from eight transects spanning
nearshore to offshore depths throughout the lake in
June and August and from two transects in the Central
Basin in July. We measured two indicators of phosphorus
limitation. The P-debt assay, which measures radioactive
P incorporation relative to chlorophyll a concentrations,
indicates P limitation (>0.075 μmole P/μg chl a) at the
Cattaraugus Creek and Westfield transects in August.
There was no pattern of increasing P limitation from
nearshore to offshore. P turnover time, which measures
the turnover time of soluble reactive P relative to algal
or bacterial uptake, revealed P limitation ( 0.05), which differed from previous analyses we
conducted. However, cyanobacterial SAB has significantly
increased with time in both the western (r 2 = 0.46, P <
0.01) and central basins (r 2 = 0.55, P < 0.01) of Lake Erie.
Further analyses of the timing of soluble phosphorus loads
and other nutrients (i.e., nitrate) and their correlations
with cyanobacterial biomass may be warranted.
2:20 SATELLITE MULTISPECTRAL COMPOSITIONAL MAPPING
OF LAKE CYANOBACTERIAL BLOOMS (US PATENT NO.
7,132,254) AND LAND CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS. Robert K.
Vincent, rvincen@bgsu.edu. Department of Geology, Bowling
Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0211.
Recent advances in satellite mapping of chemical
compounds and elemental content on both water
and on land have opened new means to quantitative
environmental monitoring that has a denser net of
measurement sites (about 5 measurements per acre with
LANDSAT TM data), is less expensive per measurement
than traditional in situ methods, delivers more timely
data, and has synoptic coverage when needed. Examples
include specific pigments in cyanobacteria blooms in Lake
Erie (resolution down to ppb), total phosphate content in
surface waters of lakes and rivers (10 ppb rms error), total
phosphate concentration in bare soil (ppm), and others. The
methodology for producing quantitative algorithms that
convert satellite multispectral image data into contents
of elements or chemical compounds could possibly be
used for mapping the areal extent of at least some specific
pollutants (such as oil, pcb, pesticides and herbicides) that
have formerly been untimely detected and too expensive
to map with in situ sensors. Ongoing research is required
to discover which pollutants have the greatest probability
of being mapped. Remotely piloted aerial sensor platforms
could also be well employed for such work.
2:30-4:00 Q&A and Summary
Individual Podium Session # 1
Schar Room 103
T.B.A. – presiding
09:00 THE DETERMINATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF
CHTHAMALUS FRAGILIS IN A NORTHERN FLORIDA SALT
MARSH Brittany A Bianco, b-bianco.1@onu.edu, Kandoi Doi
k-doi@onu.edu, Garett D Fruchey, g-fruchey@onu.edu, (Brian
E Keas b-keas@onu.edu), Department of Biological and Allied
Health Sciences, Ohio Northern University, 525 S. Main St.,
Ada OH 45810
Chthamalus fragilis is a widespread barnacle attached to a
variety of hard substrates in the high intertidal zone along
the eastern coast of the USA. Along the northern Gulf of
Mexico, C. fragilis often attaches to the stems of smooth
cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora. Previous research has
shown a strong affinity for attachment to already colonized
stems (gregarious behavior, common to barnacles) and to
sites in the axillary regions of the plants, but the overall
distribution of barnacles within a salt marsh has not been
studied. This study established a series of three transects
from open water to upland elevations in a salt marsh at
Wakulla Beach, Wakulla County, Florida. Four quadrats
along each transect were used to sample the vegetation
(species, height, number, density) and the attached fauna,
including C. fragilis and the marsh periwinkle, Littoraria
irrorata. For C. fragilis, data collection focused on the
number, size and distribution on individual stems. Data
were then analyzed using correlation analyses to examine
the patterns of barnacle distribution among a seawardlandward
gradient, vegetation density, and associations
with L. irrorata.
09:15 SEASONAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND COMPOSITIONS
OF BENTHIC COMMUNITIES IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY
DISCHARGE INFLUENCED STREAM REACH.Dawn T. DeColibus,
d-decolibus@onu.edu, Bethany J. Blakely, b-blakely@onu.
edu, Leslie A. Riley, l-riley.1@onu.edu (advisor), Robert G.
Verb, r-verb@onu.edu (advisor), Department of Biological
and Allied Health Sciences, Ada, OH 45817
Riley Creek is an intermittent, third-order stream located
in the Till Plains of Allen County, in west-central Ohio.
Near Bluffton, Ohio, along Interstate 75, a portion of Riley
Creek receives effluent from a limestone quarry operated by
the Bluffton Stone Company. The water discharged by the
quarry is elevated in concentrations of calcium carbonate
which lead to marl deposits on the benthos of the river.
To determine if quarry waters influenced the composition
and distribution of lotic communities, upstream and
downstream sites were sampled seasonally from fall
2010 - summer 2011. Twelve sites, six upstream and six
downstream of the quarry discharge, were sampled for
aquatic organisms (e.g., macroinvertebrates, macroalgae,